James Baker – Biography of James Baker

James Addison Baker III He was Secretary of State of the United States from January 22, 1989, to August 23, 1992. For nearly two decades, Baker He expanded his experience in politics, both behind the scenes and in key administration positions. As Secretary of State, he successfully oversaw the foreign policy of the United States during the end of the Cold War, as well as during the First Persian Gulf War.

Born in Texas on April 28, 1930, Baker, attended preparatory school in Pennsylvania, and graduated from Princeton University in 1952. After an active two-year rotation in the United States Marine Corps, from 1952 to 1954, Baker received his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1957. He practiced law at the firm of Andrews and Kurth from 1957 to 1975; But it wasn’t until the 1970s that he became involved in politics.

Through the influence of his first wife, Baker he became involved in the Republican Party and began a long political relationship with George W. Bush. Baker presided over Bush’s unsuccessful Senate campaign in 1970. In 1971 he became GOP Finance Chairman and played an important regional role in the reelection of President Richard Nixon. During the Gerald Ford Administration, he was appointed Undersecretary of Commerce.

Baker he also ran President Gerald Ford’s election campaign in 1976. In 1981, after a short run as Republican president in the primaries of George HW Bush’s presidential campaign, Baker He was appointed Chief of Staff of the White House by President Ronald Reagan.

During the second Reagan administration, he was simultaneously Secretary of the Treasury and president of the Economic Council of the Presidency. He was also Secretary of State in George HW Bush’s cabinet from January 22, 1989 to August 23, 1992, when he was appointed Principal Counselor and Chief of Staff of the White House to President Bush. Baker, continues to actively work on the domestic and foreign policy of the United States.

Influence on American Diplomacy

As Secretary of the Treasury during the second Reagan administration, Baker was instrumental in the instrumentalization of the approval of the Plaza Accord of September 1985, a multilateral agreement, which devalued the dollar in order to reduce the deficit in the accounts of the United States and help the economy of the country to recover from a recession that had started in the early 1980s. He also tried to implement the Baker Plan, which proposed using Japan’s trade surplus to alleviate Third World debt.

Baker, he served as Secretary of State during a very interesting and important period of time in the foreign relations of the United States. He was very influential in overseeing US foreign policy during the tumultuous and delicate times following the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of the former Soviet Union.

As Head of the State Department, he was also the driving force behind the creation of a coalition of nations to repel Saddam Hussein and Iraq from Kuwait, during the First Persian Gulf War.

Baker, continues to play an important role in US diplomacy and international affairs. He was the United Nations Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara from 1997 to 2004. In 2006, the former Secretary of State served as Republican co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, charged with evaluating US policy toward Iraq.

Baker He is currently a senior partner at the Baker Botts law firm. He is honorary president of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, and is a member of the board of directors of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

In his personal life, he married his first wife Mary Stuart McHenry, in 1953. They were married until her death in February 1970. In 1973, he married Susan Garrett Winston, a close friend of Mary Stuart with whom he currently resides. In Houston. Baker has eight children and 17 grandchildren.